Posts Tagged ‘ge news’

Ford will officially introduce the new C-Max Energi plug-in at the LA Auto Show.

General Electric plans to purchase 2,000 Ford C-MAX Energi plug-in hybrids in what is described as the largest-ever plug-in electrified vehicle fleet sale.

The move is part of GE’s commitment to convert half of its global fleet to alternative fuel vehicles. The maker has also said it will purchase Chevrolet Volt plug-ins as part of that switch the battery power and other cleaner technologies.

“At GE, we are focused on providing our customers and our fleet with more economically and environmentally efficient vehicles,” Mark Vachon, vice president of ecomagination, said. “The Ford C-MAX Energi plug-in hybrid is a great addition to our expanding fleet of alternative fuel vehicles.”

Your Auto News Source!

Ford claims the C-MAX Energi is America’s most fuel-efficient plug-in hybrid with a 108 MPGe city rating from the Environmental Protection Agency and a 620-mile single-tank range. That apparently appealed to GE since the vehicles will be used by the giant conglomerate’s sales and service professionals – many who drive more mileage daily than average commuters.

GE thinks it can help charge up demand for Nissan Leaf and other electric vehicles.

General Electric wants a piece of the electric vehicle action and is teaming up with Nissan to figure out how it can help expedite the adoption of electric vehicles.

Signing a new partnership with the Japanese maker, GE officials say they aren’t interested in putting their badge on a battery car but see other huge opportunities. With corporate ventures in fields as far flung as battery manufacturing, electric motors and even green energy generation, the conglomerate’s CEO Jeffrey Immelt has suggested in recent months GE could wind up making substantial profits if the electric vehicle industry takes off.

Get Behind the Wheel!

“We want to get into this space in a big way,” said Mark Little, Senior Vice President and Director, GE Global Research, during a joint news conference with Nissan held at the automaker’s suburban Detroit engineering center. “As the U.S. and world move toward electric vehicles, the automotive sector is forming new industry connections that extend well beyond the traditional OEM space.”

There are any number of new players entering the battery car market, including start-ups like Tesla, Fisker and Bright Automotive. “We don’t want to build cars,” cautioned Little. However, GE can help Nissan make EVs easier to use and more consumer friendly, he said.

The Chevrolet Volt will make up the bulk of GE's planned battery car purchase - at least initially.

Confirming CEO Jeffrey Immelt’s promise to convert half its sales and service fleet to battery power, General Electric says it will purchase 12,000 Chevrolet Volts and will acquire a total of 25,000 electric vehicles by 2015.

While a growing number of fleet customers have begun exploring the use of battery-electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids – like Volt – which promise to significantly reduce fuel and maintenance costs, this is by far the single-largest commitment ever made to the new technology. In fact, GE’s plans will significantly exceed the number of Chevy Volts General Motors had planned to build all next year.

News You Can Use!

The move underscores the possibility that it will be fleet buyers, rather than retail customers, who dominate the market for battery propulsion, at least in the near-term, suggest industry experts.

But the GE announcement isn’t intended to be altruistic. Not only does the company say it expects to save money on energy costs but, by helping spur the development of the nascent battery car market, General Electric believes it will build a business for itself.

GE CEO Jeffrey Immelt aims to kick-start the electric vehicle market with a purchase that could be measures in the "tens of thousands."

General Electric, the industrial giant that provides the equipment generating a third of the world’s electric power now wants to charge up the electric vehicle market.

GE CEO Jeffrey Immelt’s plan to buy “tens of thousands” of battery cars could very well kick-start the nascent market, according to industry observers, and will certainly be the largest order for battery vehicles in history.

The move isn’t entirely altruistic. As the world’s leading provider of electric generation equipment, and as a major force in the expanding market for wind, solar and other “green” energy technologies, a GE a spokesman said the company is betting that for every dollar spent on electric vehicles it will get a dime in revenues of its own.

Speaking at a conference in London, Immelt said that half of GE’s huge sales force, a total of 45,000 men and women, will be assigned electric vehicles, though the executive declined to put a specific figure on the company’s planned battery car purchase – nor did he say whom GE would turn to for the vehicles.

The Fortune 100 company won’t be the only publicly-traded company investing in battery car technology. A number of major utilities have plans to build electric vehicle fleets, as do firms ranging from Hollywood Studios to delivery services, many of whom drive relatively short distances in urban service and see battery cars as a way to curb rising fuel costs. But industry watchers say they know of no company planning anywhere near the apparent size of the GE proposal.

Click Here for Free Subscription!

GE has been steadily expanding its presence, meanwhile, in green technologies, including solar and wind generators, as well as the smart-grid technology seen as critical to adequately handling the demand of a national fleet of battery cars.

GE has also formed a partnership with the battery maker A123 Systems, Inc., which is producing lithium-ion batteries for cars and trucks, as well as sodium-based batteries that can be used in locomotives. GE is the largest shareholder in the Massachusetts-based A123.